Sensory play is a key part of your child’s development. It builds fine motor skills, helps children develop a sense of themselves and aids memory function. Here are Nanny Anita’s best crafts and activities to support sensory play.
For the best part of this year I have been trying to find the perfect slime recipe. A large number of them require borax More
I do love making DIY toys from things that I have lying around at work. One item that we have many of is formula More
BB’s nursery was meant to be looking at butterflies during the summer term. His teachers sent through videos of the caterpillars they had and More
I have always liked the Lunar New Year; I think having spent my earliest years living in South Korea obviously had some sort of More
We love playing with water beads here. They are just so relaxing. I can’t wait to use them with BB, but because of the More
We love to make play dough; I love to play with it while it is still warm. Over the years we’ve made lots of More
In honour of EC’s birthday, I made a set of red velvet cake play dough. For the colouring of this batch I used powdered More
A few weeks ago, I did a flower vase sensory tray with YC and BB. The flowers lasted a long time, about 2 weeks. More
We recently had people over doing some content work on the Baba West products, so we had a few toddlers around at the house. More
I saw this on Instagram a few weeks ago and thought it looked quite sweet, maybe slightly young for my charges, but definitely one More
It has been a really long time since we made stress balls. I think I first made some with EC and YC when they More
One of BB’s favourite books is “The Colour Monster.” It is a brilliant book about a monster who is feeling all mixed up because More
This dinosaur dig sensory tray has been a great way to help pass the time during lock down. Not only has BB enjoyed finding More
I’ve wanted to make a magnetic sensory bottle for a while, they just look so cool. We have had magnetic sensory tray before, so More
I have been waiting to do a water themed sensory tray all summer. Unfortunately BB had an accident that meant that we couldn’t get More
Summer is a great time to be playing with water and running around outside. Unfortunately for us, water play and running around is off More
The weather has been pretty shocking as of late. Today I feel that we have had 4 seasons in a day; we started with More
We have made this playdough before but it was such a long time ago that we thought that we would give it another go. More
These calming beaded strings aren’t my idea in any way. I was asked to make them by Leo after Dr Maryhan Baker talked about More
A few years a go I made a cloud dough sensory tray. Well, it is time to get it out again, this time it’s More
This exploring magnets sensory tray was inspired by BB when he was playing with a train set. He had discovered that a magnetic pen More
If you were to google baking soda and vinegar the majority of your search would be filled with volcanoes. Which is one of my More
I actually did this activity round at somebody else’s house! I don’t normally do that, but YC really wanted to do it with one More
The new Frozen 2 movie comes out this Friday! In honour of its release we have been playing with this Frozen inspired play dough More
This magnetic sensory box is about using magnets and exploring what is magnetic and what isn’t. This activity is aimed at children from about More
We do love getting the light box out every now and then. BB was asking for it just the other week. This time I More
Over the last couple of weeks BB has suddenly started counting. He tries hard to count items correctly, sometimes he will do it perfectly, More
There are times when I need a quick activity that I can give to BB to keep him entertained while I either finish up More
Thursday afternoon is one of my favourite times of the week; it is when I pick up my youngest charge from nursery and we have More
I am always on the look out for new play dough recipes, the last batch I made was very salty and went slimy very More
A couple of weeks ago I posted a finger gym activity for BB, it is still one of his favourite activities to do. He More
EC often finds falling asleep difficult. He lies there, sometimes for hours, trying to drift off. Which, obviously, gets very frustrating for him. We More
When I was based in London I would often take my charges to the Science Museum. One of our favourite places to explore was More
We haven’t been actively teaching BB his phonics, but about once a week since his birth I’ve put a You Tube video of the More
It is really important for little ones to develop their fine motor skills. They need them to do things like doing buttons up and More
I done quite a few sensory trays with BB using rice, but I wanted to see how he would do with sand. He seems More
We have chosen a selection of fantastic toys to help your baby develop and learn. Sensory toys are designed to stimulate play and develop key skills.
While training at Norland I had to make my own treasure basket for part of my creative option classes. I made my basket 7 More
A sensory light box is simply a transparent box with some fairy lights inside (the best ones are those that are battery operated as More
As I am sure you must have heard, Mickey Mouse just had his 90th birthday! Pretty remarkable to think about. I’ve been quite busy More
I had planned to do this marble run with tapioca pearls during the summer. It was all thought out; I was going to set More
This is a very simple activity, but leads to hours of fun for the whole family. My charges really enjoyed just playing around with More
While trawling through Pinterest I came across pictures of children playing with water beads. It looked so intriguing that I just had to give More
Last week we made some painted salt structures. I left a couple of them on the window sill of the playroom to dry out More
Last week I set up an ice play station for BB which he loved. This week I set up a soap and water play More
This ice play for toddlers doesn’t really need a massive piece written on it, it is very self explanatory. It is probably one of More
I used to get the light box out quite a lot of YC when she was younger. I would often put it out in More
BB and I have recently taken a break in our sensory play. The weather has been so lovely that we have been spending our More
The slime craze is still going strong and I know quite a few parents and nannies who are totally over it. EC and YC More
Recently there have been posts all over facebook about these bottles
Sensory play forms the building blocks of physical and mental development in the early months. Here’s how to encourage it.
As you might have seen I have been doing rather a lot of sensory activities with BB over the last few months. Our newest More
The majority of BB’s toys and activities that I do with him are sensory based ones. His mind is like a little sponge, learning More
Threading activities is one the easiest ways to help develop fine motor skills in young children. It takes very little preparation and is an More
BB and I have been doing quite a few Sensory activities over the past few weeks. Most of them have been sensory bottles or More
BB is now almost a year old and tries to get into everything. He is pulling himself up on all the furniture which does More
This week’s activity is taste safe snow dough sensory play. BB is only 10months and puts a lot of things in his mouth. This More
Food play can make parents feel anxious, but what if we told you food play is a key part of your baby’s development? Here are some top tips to encourage it.
Make sure that you follow my sensory board on Pinterest for more ideas and don’t forget to save the pin for later. You often More
This peek-a-boo toy is almost guaranteed to stop any tears and bring out a smile.
I can’t believe that my youngest charge is now 4 months! The time has literally flown by. I have previously made BB some sensory More
Make sure you follow my baby activities board on Pinterest for more ideas, and don’t forget to save the pin for later. “How can More
Make sure that you follow my sensory board on Pinterest for more ideas, and don’t forget to save the pin for later. We’ve made More
Make sure you follow my sensory board on Pinterest for more ideas and don’t forget to save the pin for later. If you search More
Make sure you follow my baby activity board on Pinterest for more ideas and don’t forget to save the pin for later. Babies are More